Sound Peace

Creations Magazine Review

It was great seeing this new review from Creations Magazine.  We are honored to be compared to Brian Eno, who is a composer we were originally inspired by back in 1982 when we recorded our very first album, Misty Forest Morning.  At the time we were fans of his early ambient music albums such as "Music for Airports."  We had the idea of creating ambient music inspired by natural environments and combining the music with sounds of nature from those places in nature.  The album that is reviewed here, Music for Meditation: Inner Stillness, only has nature sounds in a few spots because it is designed specifically for meditation, but the concept of providing a serene ambient environment remains the same. – Steve Gordon

 

Music for Meditation: Inner Stillness
By David & Steve Gordon 

There are many meditation music recordings available these days, and while tastes vary person to person, the best tend to be supportive but non-intrusive, without ‘musical ego’ and generally, without performance virtuosity (i.e., more ‘nebulous’ and ‘atmospheric’ in quality). David and Steve Gordon fulfill these parameters and more in this useful and standout offering. I was reminded of the skill with which Brian Eno, years ago, constructed his album ‘Apollo,’ such is the skill the Gordon brothers have demonstrated in creating some of the cuts on this album. Recommended for what its title suggests – as an excellent meditation accompaniment. - Mark Maxwell

 

 

Notes from Backstage

 
 
Soothe your Soul...

Fellow Travelers,

The response to our two new releases have been very positive so far. We're really pleased about the great response!  Please continue to post your comments on the Sequoia facebook page and the David & Steve Gordon facebook page.

Now that I have done a post about Groove Tribe, I'll share some background info about our other new release:

Reiki Healing Light
By David & Steve Gordon with Sequoia Artists

After decades of composing award-winning music for healing and meditation, we have received many letters from fans and Reiki practitioners letting us know that they have found our music very effective for Reiki.

We decided to see if we could create the ultimate relaxation music for Reiki sessions, meditation, and yoga or to lift you away into restful sleep.  It was our goal to apply our 30 years of experience in healing music and create an album of music that would not only be ideal for Reiki but also be beautiful and inspiring music.

In case you are not familiar with Reiki, it is Japanese healing technique that originated in the 1900s.  The word Reiki actually translates as “energy.”   Reiki practitioners act as a conduit for healing energy and run it through their palms to awaken the body’s natural healing abilities.

Reiki has been used to treat many conditions from colds and flu to cancer and diabetes as well as treatment for anxiety and depression.

Reiki reduces the effects of harmful stress and increases relaxation that improves immune function and circulation that creates overall healing in the body and mind.

To create our first ever Reiki album, we gathered together other artists who are both known for their Reiki music or who have music which are favorites among Reiki practitioners from around the world, such as Shajan, Sophia, Ashron and Nik Tyndall and Bernd Scholl.

Our goal was to help people let go of the concerns of their day and relax with deeply calming music that will help them slow down, empty their minds and gently float you to their serene inner center.

When people listen to Reiki Healing Light, we designed the music so stress and worry to melt away as nourishing waves of gentle Piano, Flute, Guitars, soothing Keyboards and some angelic vocals blend with occasional sounds of ocean, birds and rivers.  The combination of gentle music and soothing nature sounds create a deeply healing experience which will allow your mind to become quite, your breathing to slow and deepen and your body to relax completely.

Working on this album has been a wonderfully nourishing and healing experience for us and we hope that you feel that as well.  If music could take you to Samadhi, we hope this exquisitely relaxing music would be your soundtrack.

Walk in Beauty,
Steve 

 

 

Notes From Backstage

Embark on an ambient-techno shaman journey...

Fellow Travelers,

We have two new releases to share with you today!  They are both currently available on the Sequoia website, just click the titles below to hear sound samples.

Groove Tribe
Reiki Healing Light - Music for Deep Relaxation

I'll share with you some behind the scenes info about Groove Tribe today and then I'll do a post soon about Reiki Healing Light.

The idea for this album came about when we were working on choosing the songs for Buddha Lounge 7.  It occurred to us that even though the Buddha Lounge series is chill out lounge music many of the songs on the Buddha Lounge series have a world music sound and in fact are from other countries.  We have even included remixes of some of our Native drumming songs from albums like Sacred Earth Drums on the Buddha Lounge series.

We thought about how satisfying it would be to create a new fusion between the Native/World music sound of our drumming albums with the electronica styles from the Buddha Lounge series.  This kind of Native drumming meets electronica is a new kind of music we have not heard done before.

To create this new eco-world music sound we combined Native drumming, exotic global instruments, guitars and chants and then blended them with mystical trip hop beats and textures. We used acoustic instruments like Native American flute, Pan Pipes, piano, guitar and vocals from our award-winning Native-influenced world music bestsellers like Drum Medicine and Shaman’s Vision Journey and then combined them with electronic synthesizers, electronica grooves and song structures.

The result is a mesmerizing and uplifting new re-mixed and re-visioned Native sound that is great for anything from yoga to dancing, driving or parties.   Now you can experience worldbeat and chill out electronic music like you have never heard it before.  At once earthy and spacey, organic and electronic – it’s like an ambient-techno shaman journey!

But the idea behind this project goes beyond just musical styles.  On a musical level, we found ourselves intrigued with the idea of combining ancient shaman rhythms and instruments such as tribal drums and native flutes with modern electronic beats and synthesizers.  We started out by using select phrases and tracks from our native fusion albums and then we remixed them with trip hop grooves and electronica elements. 

Once we got deeper into the project and started to hear the results of our efforts, we realized that this kind of music represented bigger idea.  Shamanism is common to all ancient peoples.  We all share in these core rhythms as a part of who we are, and they can be found in a wide range of Modern electronic dance music and hip hop beats.

As modern electronica blends with ancient shaman rhythms, we discover the emergence of a new universal tribal culture; one that celebrates humanity’s diversity and awakens our common values.  You can see this in the growing tribal music festival culture, popular movies such as Avatar and in music such as Groove Tribe.  We hope you are as inspired by this idea and this music as we are.

Stay tuned for more soon...

Steve 

 

 

 

Notes from Backstage

 
Are you ready for something really different?  Try going on an electronic vision quest.

After many months of preparation, we have some exciting news to share with you.  Our brand new psychedelic trance electronic music project albums are now available on the Sequoia Records website.

Introducing Lodestone Resonator.

We decided to give this music a different name because the sound of the music is so different than anything else we have ever done before.  It has some similarities with the electronica style of music on our releases such as Nirvana Groove and Yoga Planet as well as series we have produced such as Buddha Lounge and Hotel Tara, but unlike those, the music of Lodestone Resonator is more experimental, more ambient and not designed just for chilling out, although it can be used that way.

After all the years of releasing music designed for specific purposes, we thought it would be fun to create some music purely for our own enjoyment, where we had no idea when we started what the end result would be.

Lodestone Resonator is music that has no boundaries and does not fit neatly into any musical style.  We were inspired by psytrance and leftfield IDM groups such as The Orb, Shpongle and Aphex Twin but we did not let ourselves be limited by those sounds at all.  We created a new fusion of electronic and acoustic elements that combine in hypnotic patterns and loops to chart a new course into psychedelic trance. 

One thing we have never really heard any other electronic music groups do is use the sounds of acoustic instruments to create electronic loops and grooves.  We sampled sounds from our albums played by things like acoustic guitar, piano, flutes, acoustic drums and electric guitar, processed them electronically and then created hypnotic grooves from them that sound at once both electronic and organic.

The end result is music that is ambient but has enough groove to keep you going as well.  You can use this music for background while working, driving or socializing but it's also great to turn up and really explore also.  The music is great for inner journeys and digital vision quests.

The first three Lodestone Resonator albums are available as downloads or CDs.  You can sample every song on the albums:

Sensory Engineering

Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness

Mapping the Transpersonal Dimension

 

To find out more about this new music project, here is a link to the Lodestone Resonator bio .

We hope you enjoy this new music.  We had a great time creating it!

Cheers,
Steve Gordon

 

 

 

Notes From Backstage

Now that the holidays are over and January is in full swing, it really feels like the new year is starting to take off.  I love this time of year because it always gives me a new burst of positive energy for creating.

Here are some of the things Dave and I have been busy with in the last couple weeks - We've been laying the groundwork for our new April releases, overseeing the cover art (which is looking gorgeous,) and  packaging and getting the master ready to send to the manufacturer.  There are many steps involved in getting a recording from the studio to appear in CD form in stores.

Our April music release is the second album in our critically acclaimed Drum Elements series that begin with Drum Cargo - Rhythms of Fire.  It's called Drum Cargo - Rhythms of Water.  It's been available on the Sequoia Records website in the simpler "made to order" format for a while now, but in April it will also be available in full release version in stores throughout the world.  We have a number of "made to order" albums on our website.  These are albums that we make available to our website guests prior to the world-wide retail release.

Also in April, we are releasing a guided meditation album called River of Light - Getting Free of Stress by Dr. Arlene Alexander.  It features our meditation music, some of which is previously unreleased.

You'll love the combination of Dr. Alexander's soothing voice and our relaxing music.  It  is really effective at allowing you to release all stress and tension.

This is the first in a series of guided meditations that we will be releasing in the next year along with more new music albums.

We are also starting to plan our next music release which we have already done some recording for.  I'll tell you more about that in a future post.

Stay tuned for more notes from backstage…

Don't forget to visit us on Facebook.

– Steve Gordon, Sequoia Studios, Sonoma County, CA

Photo by Jinx McCombs

Mickey Hart Interview - World Music, Drumming and the Mythology of Rhythm

"This is not just a fringe, faddish kind of music that is cropping up. People are getting into it. They're dancing to it, and it's the beat of the future, the groove of the future.
- Mickey Hart

We have a special treat for you. This is an in-depth interview with one of the most influential drummers in world music today, Mickey Hart. His recording, Planet Drum, was (and still is) very influential in exposing drumming and world music to New Age music lovers. The album received the first Grammy ever awarded in the world music category. It was number one on the Billboard world music chart for an unprecedented 26 weeks. After many years, Planet Drum is still one of the top selling drumming titles in New Age stores.

Mickey Hart is best known for his role as an integral part of an extraordinary three-decade expedition into the soul and spirit of music, disguised as a rock'n'roll band called the Grateful Dead. As half of the percussion tandem known as the Rhythm Devils (Bill Kreutzman is the other Rhythm Devil), Hart has transcended, even shattered, the conventions of rock drumming. Hart and Kreutzman's extended polyrhythmic excursions have long been highlights of the Dead's live shows.

The pair has introduced the band's audience to an ever-growing arsenal of exotic percussion instruments from around the world. Exposure to these exotic instruments caused Hart to start a journey focused on learning about the cultures that produced the instruments. Hart's lifelong fascination with the history and mythology of rhythm is documented in his two books, Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum.

Hart's study of the world's music also has led him to record with many great collaborators from around the world. He has helped to make world music more readily available by creating 20 recordings of world music in his "World" series on Rykodisc. His latest release is Mickey Hart's Mystery Box, a work that weds world rhythms to the most appealing qualities of pop music and features a dream team of world class drummers and musicians.

In the following interview from 1997, we ask Mickey Hart to explain what is behind the current explosion of world music and speculate on what might be the next trends in world music.

Steve Gordon: What is it about drumming that is currently creating such a strong response in listeners?

Mickey Hart: It's all about rhythm. We are rhythm creatures. Our whole body is made up of rhythm. We are part of a rhythmic world. And drumming is a great way for the species to make rhythm. Rhythm seems to be an integral part of our makeup as humans, as mammals, as interlocking organisms. So, rhythm is very important. Rhythms are all around us. We live in a rhythmic universe. We are embedded in it.

Continue reading article on the Sequoia Records website.

 

Micro Meditations for Busy Days

Transforming Interruptions into Mindfulness

 
You have probably heard about or experienced some of the many benefits of meditation such as stress relief, better concentration, more self confidence, improved health, more happiness, more peace of mind, smoother relationships, increased creativity, stronger intuition and inner certainty, etc.

With the busy lives many of us lead these days, it can be hard to always find the time to do a traditional sitting meditation as much as we might want. 

You can use very short interruptions in your day as a sort of micro meditation.  For example, let's say you get put on hold for long time.  This can be very upsetting, especially if you are busy.  Next time this happens to you, try using that time to meditate while you wait.  Just take some slow deep breaths and let your mind focus only on your breathing.  Once you resume your call, you'll feel much better.

 After a while you can get good at finding little moments you can meditate such as standing in line at the bank, waiting for a doctor's appointment or waiting to make a purchase at a department store.  It doesn't matter whether the time window is a minute or two or much longer.  No matter how short or long the time you are stuck not being able to proceed with your work or chosen activity, you can use those times to get a little meditation in. Continue reading on Sequoia Records website.

– David and Steve Gordon

 

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Creating the Life You Want

The Power of Thoughts and The Law of Attraction

If there are things about your current situation that you would like to change, there are many actions you will need to take.  But while you are taking those actions, consider the power of your thoughts.

The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like.  So if your thoughts are focused on the problems you are facing and how difficult it is for you then you could be creating more of the same.

If instead you keep your thoughts on what you appreciate about your life and the things you enjoy, then you could find that those things start to increase.

By paying attention to what you do enjoy you are bringing yourself into a state of joy.  This state of joy is a reflection of the limitless source energy at the core of all life.  By aligning yourself with source you are tapping into the ultimate power to create the life you want.

Keeping your thoughts on things that bring your joy will have another positive effect as well, which is that you will feel happier.  Everyone you speak to will feel your positive energy.  They will naturally be more attracted to you, so opportunities will tend to come your way.

In addition, by keeping your thoughts focused on the positive things in your life you will be in a much more resourceful state of consciousness.  You will be more creative and ideas will flow.  By staying in a resourceful state, you will have the ideas you need to create the success and changes in your life that you seek.

Your increased creativity will be a source of solutions for problems and you might find that you start to develop a feeling of momentum in the direction you are trying to go.

 

Click to continue reading full article on SequoiaRecords.com

Here are is some music we have created that can help to create a positive outlook:

Music for Meditation - Inner Stillness
Sound Peace
Nirvana Groove

– David & Steve Gordon

Meditation On The Go

Finding Time to Meditate When You Don't Have Time

 

Do you meditate regularly, once in a while or are you just starting out?

David and I discovered meditation about 30 years ago.  As musicians we were inspired to create music for meditation because music and meditation have a lot in common in the way they focus your mind and how they can effect your state of mind. Since then we have released many albums of serene healing music.

Here are some techniques you can use to bring meditation into your life when your time is limited.

Start to look for times during the day when you could meditate for short periods. 

1. Before eating

Let's say you are about to eat your lunch or dinner.  Instead of beginning your meal in the less than relaxed state you are probably in, try taking 5 slow deep breaths.  While you breathe in and out, let your thoughts clear and focus on your breath.  If you have a thought, don't fight it, just let it go by and return to your breath.

You will be surprised at just how fast you can transform your body and mind from a state of being stressed out to calm and serene.  By the time the 5 breaths are done you will feel much more relaxed and your mind will be more clear and less filled with whatever it was you probably thought was important before you started.  Now you can enjoy your meal much more since you are peaceful enough to really experience it fully.

2. Meditation Breaks

During your workday, if you have the ability to find somewhere you can sit undisturbed for five minutes, close your eyes and do a short 5-minute meditation.  You don’t have to sit in the lotus position or even cross-legged.  Any where with a chair, bench or someplace you can sit is fine. You can focus on your breath or do a mantra if you prefer.  In 5 minutes you can reach a very peaceful state of mind.  The more you practice getting into a meditative state in shorter time periods the faster your mind will go to a deep place.

If it is a public place and you don’t want to close your eyes, you can leave them open.  Just find somewhere to look that has little going on like the sky or a tree or a wall.

If you don't have the ability to find a place to sit undisturbed, you can go for a 5-minute walk.  Do a walking meditation instead.  As you walk, clear your mind of thoughts and focus on your breathing.  Walk slowly and keep returning to your breath or your mantra if your mind wanders.  After 5 minutes, return to your work and you'll feel completely refreshed.

If you can’t do an entire 5 mintues or even get away from your desk, you can take 10 slow deep breaths.  That’s plenty of time to completely transform your state of mind not to mention relaxing your body.

3. Driving Meditation

A good time to get a little meditation in is while you drive.  Of course when doing a  driving meditation, you need to keep your eyes open!  You can't go into a super deep state of meditation, but it is possible to clear your mind of thoughts and experience a rejuvenating break from the activity of your day.

To do a driving meditation, either keep your stereo off or play some soothing meditation music.  Focus on your driving as you normally do and then let your mind clear of thoughts and focus on your breathing.  If you are playing meditation music, you can focus on the music or if you prefer to use a mantra you can focus on that.  If your mind starts to wander to what you have to do later or anything else, just return to your driving, your breathing, the music or mantra.

You would be amazed at just how peaceful you can become while you are driving.  I used to get upset when I got stuck in traffic but when it happens to me now; I look at it as an opportunity to transform something stressful into something relaxing by doing some meditation instead.

Here are some albums of good music that would work well for driving meditation that David and I have recorded: 
Music for Meditation – Inner Stillness, Soothing Sanctuary and Sound Peace. (These would make great links to the album pages on the Spirit Voyage website)

4. Shower and Bathroom Meditation

Every day we spend a certain amount of time in the bathroom taking a shower or bath, brushing our teeth, grooming, etc.  If you don't have time to meditate that day, try making your time in the bathroom a sort of mindfulness meditation.  Focus on your breathing or your mantra and do everything you normally do but with total mindfulness.

The shower is a great time to practice meditation.  Instead of thinking about all the things you have to do that day, let your mind become serene and clear. Feel how good the warm water feels and really experience the shower.  Then later in the day you'll find you will know just the right thing to do because you are more in touch with your inner center.

– Steve Gordon

The Benefits of Meditation

We have both been meditating in various ways for over 30 years.  Whether it is traditional sitting meditation or mindfulness practices such as walking meditation, we‘re grateful for the many benefits we’ve found in these ways.  There are far more benefits to meditating than can be covered here, so we’re offering this personal note as a short introduction to a large idea.

Meditation benefits all aspects of life – body, mind and spirit. For the body,  studies have shown that meditation lowers stress hormones, which means that all health problems associated with stress are improved including heart health.  It can improve brain functioning, creativity, academic performance, concentration and can help with anxiety and depression.

 For ourselves personally, meditating helps us to stay centered and not  get stressed out while running our record company and it helps us to be more creative in the recording studio.  We find that inner stillness brings an endless flow of good ideas with no need to second-guess them because it’s clear they arise from our connection with the source within.

And meditation helps us in our working relationship with each other and with our families and friends.  By “going within” on a regular basis, we are happier and more content.  This helps us to communicate and listen to others with more openness and compassion.